Last week a few of us went to a presentation by Pat Murray on Group Dynamics.  Since we all work in groups it is good to know the psychology of groups.  We are a social animal.  Our behaviors, character, identity, status and place in the world all come from imprinting from our groups.  These groups could include our family, military, corporate, religious and other social organizations.  Groups are a mental configuration.  There is no individual action there is only group action.  Connection to a group is a requirement for human survival.  Many people don’t get over being dumped from a group.  Long term military people die on average 18 months after leaving the military.

Learning more about group dynamics can help organizations recruit better and lead better.  When hiring a new person to join your group the only important decision is do they fit or not.  Here are some questions you could ask during an interview to get to know that person’s groups:

•    Walk me through your resume, take as long as you want.  When the energy goes up ask more questions.  That is their group.
•    Walk me through your heroes and role models.
•    Can you give me some examples of when you have sacrificed a great deal to maintain personal integrity?
•    Can you walk me through everything you are sure of?

Pat said any statement in an interview that can’t be backed up with a concrete example is probably a lie.  That seems a bit extreme to me as people are nervous when interviewing.  Yet, know that past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.  Getting examples from their past is a good way to know how they might fit.

The role of a leader is to maximize connection and minimize separation in the group.  The leader helps the group deal with the real issues.  Real issues come with high anxiety.  A high performing group will confront this issue.  When the group feels safe enough to speak up and deal with the real issues you have a high performing group.  If you see people go to silence during a meeting.  Or the real meeting is in the bathroom after a meeting.  Then your group needs to work on communicating more effectively.  On a basic level you need to get reality on the table and confront it.  This will help build trust, relief and energy in your group.

I believe Taylor Studios has a high performing group.  This took 18 years of getting the right team, culture, values, rules and processes built.  We used to deal with small issues in our meetings like why someone didn’t follow a rule.  Now we can deal with bigger issues like offering our clients more value than the competition.  Our team is excited and energized about the company’s future.  We have a shared fate.  When you have this type of group dynamics it is exciting to come to work everyday.

What groups do you come from?  How are the group dynamics where you work?

I have had Apple computers since the late 80s.  I drank the kool aide and have been a Mac advocate ever since.  Unfortunately, about five years ago, I moved to a PC for work.  We were using software that just plain worked better on the PC.  With angst I agreed that I needed the PC.  I’ve hated it ever since (except for the Apple sticker I put on the back).

This week I got an iPad.  I am happy.  The world is a better place.  I’ve now decided to consolidate everything and am going back to all Mac all the time.  I have my MacPro, my iPad and my iPhone.  By the end of September I’ll have transferred everything off of this PC and will be done with it!

What is it that draws me to Apple to this degree?  I’m a logical, reasonable, numbers oriented person.  My conclusion is it is beautiful.  Beauty causes an emotional attachment.  I want to use it.  I want to look at it.  I want to carry it around.  Donald Norman speaks of this in his book Emotional Design.  I like how he describes his teapots,  “These objects are more than utilitarian.   As art, they lighten up my day.   Perhaps more important, each conveys a personal meaning: each has its own story.”  He postulates, “…that aesthetically pleasing objects actually work better.   As I shall demonstrate, products and systems that make you feel good are easier to deal with and produce more harmonious results.”

If a product can make you smile and lighten up your day, it must produce better results.  I’m a results oriented person.  Happier people produce better results.  Beautiful things create a positive emotional response.  When in a positive emotional state, I make better decisions.  This is why Apples are better than any other computer out there.  Just take a look at this iPad with its beautiful wireless keyboard.  It is a beautiful design.   I’m looking forward to my iLovely future.

What things do you have because they are beautiful even if something else may be more functional?

A friend of mine is in the process of writing a book about the love of horses.  She asked me to answer the question “What do I love most about horses?”  I have thought about it for several days and have concluded it is not one thing.  I will lean on poets to help capture my emotions when I think about horses.

When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.  ~William Shakespeare, Henry V

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,
Friendship without envy,
Or beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is served with muscle
And strength by gentleness confined
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.
There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.
~Ronald Duncan, “The Horse,” 1954

Being with horses is always an emotional experience.  My love is deep.  Even looking upon them can bring tears of joy to my eyes.  I have been around horses my whole life, yet they still amaze me every day.  I often wonder why this 1,200 pound animal allows our friendship.  Why do they do the things that I ask, like get into a trailer?

I love how they feel, how they smell, how they move, how they frolic, how one is an athlete and the next is a dork, how they get in trouble and how they teach me.  I love the feel of the wind through my hair when we run.  It’s a powerful relationship and I am fortunate to have found this love.

I believe the love for horses has brought passion and success to the rest of my life.  To be with horses for a lifetime includes many sacrifices and some heartache.  It can be a challenge.  I think it has lead me to embrace other challenges with gusto and appreciation.  If overcoming that challenge brings such rewards imagine the return when you tackle your bliss elsewhere.

My advice is to find your bliss and follow it with gusto.  Life is good.  Grab it by the saddle horn!

What is your bliss?

Today’s post was written by guest blogger, Rob Meier.  Rob is a licensed Social Worker with 20 years experience and currently works in healthcare as a diagnostic imaging consultant.

The core of our American way of life is the small business.  Small business is driven by profit.  Profit is what builds the personal wealth of owners and his/her employees.   However,  in today’s environment, the profiteering entrpeneur is  frowned upon as our national financial system came close to collapse.  We look upon the “owner class” of small business America with disdain.  Some may feel that their successes are due in large part to skimming the cream off the labor of their employees and so we discount them as greedy and heartless when in fact the exact opposite is the case.

America’s heart is still small business and at the core of small business is the man or woman that risked all in order to make a better life for themselves and those who they rely on.  While building their future they took many people along with them to success.  We look to large multi-billion dollar companies that were started as mom and pop operations in basements and garages.  For example,  Hewlett & Packard,  Cook Medical, Eli Lilly, Dell and Apple Computer, Nordstrom, Mattel and Starbucks are just but a few companies that started from literally nothing.  They were birthed by one or two folks that wanted a better life for their families.  These people risked everything they owned to start something in hopes it would amount to a better life.  Behold, organizations were born that gave thousands jobs with benefits and a means by which to build their own personal wealth, families and lives.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “industry need not wish.”  The entrepreneur assesses the risks against consequences and makes decisions that not only affect themselves but family members and employees as well as their customers.  Their industry drives them. The object of the risk is PROFIT and profit drives industry.  Profit is the nourishment from which business feeds.  Profit is not necessarily money; it is not greed; it is not negative.  Profit is in fact growth and with growth comes greater prosperity.  Prosperity encourages even more investment (risk) in hopes of yet greater profit so the growth cycle can continue.  Profit is in fact a good thing.  All of us benefit from profit.

Taylor Studios has an awesome team.  Some of the reasons we function well as a team follow:

• We check our egos at the door.
• We have high integrity and trust each other.
• Everyone wants to produce a high quality product.
• We set goals and objectives.
• Each of us keeps an open mind and accepts criticism and input.
• We are respectful in our communication, yet encourage debate.
• We treat our teammates as trusted advisers.
• We hold each other accountable.

Today, I got an email from Matt Wiley, one of our Graphic Designers.  He was concerned that some of my tweets were not appropriate.  I had posted some silly ones that were probably more appropriate for personal tweeting versus company tweeting.  I often get in a hurry and tweet just to tweet instead of watching the quality of the tweet.  I appreciated his input and made changes.

We are pursuing a very large project.  This week, several of us presented to this potential client.  At the presentation, it was obvious we work well as a team.  After the client asked a question, one of us would start the answer then another would pop in and finish the thought.  It flowed smoothly and we conveyed that we have fun, are passionate about what we do and have an effective team.  I was telling Joe Taylor, the company co-founder, about the opportunity.  He said, “Well if you really want it, why don’t you make them an offer they can’t refuse?”  This morning I threw a brainstorm with Sam, Drew and Kara and we came up with a great idea to present to the client.

Our shop is very busy right now.  We are working overtime and people are on the road.  There are many upcoming installs.  The few weeks before an install can be stressful for project managers.  There always seems to be more details to figure out, more questions and more to dos.  When something goes slightly wrong it is easy to jump on the project manager and say, “Why didn’t you take care of this?”  For example, this week a subcontractor delivered a Great Blue Heron model that was not made to our specifications.  This meant Marc, our Model Shop Lead, had to spend a day fixing the model even though something else had already been scheduled for that day.  Jason noticed that everyone was asking why don’t we hold our subs, clients, vendors, etc. more accountable.  Jason knew this was not the time to add more stress to their plate.  As we often say, he reminded them to offer solutions instead of complaints and criticism.  With that perspective in mind, the team got down to business and came up with solutions.  We’ll look at what we could have done better at the lessons learned meeting we’ll have after the installs are done.

These examples from this week illustrate what good teamwork looks like.   My team rocks!

Tell us about a time when you saw good teamwork.

I had my weekly meeting with our controller, Jane, this morning.  One of the things we talked about is organizing our pay policy.  We have a procedure and a strategy and now we need to organize it all together and make an official process.  Some of what we did to create a pay strategy is the following:

• Written job descriptions
• Establish pay ranges for each position within the company
• Market research on what those positions are paid in our market area
• A process for each department head to request raises
• Pay level spreadsheets for each department head
• Each employee gets an annual review. Raises are not given at that time. Expectations and goals are clearly communicated
• Annual review of pay ranges

There are market forces that affect pay policy.  If there is a limited pool of qualified employees for a particular position we are recruiting for we may modify the pay range.  The profitability of the company and forecast for future work could also affect pay ranges.

Once an employee reaches the top of their pay range for any position they would have to offer value in some other way in order to be paid outside of their pay range.  This also applies to making progression within your pay range.  An employee that has diversified skills may be more valuable.  If you can sculpt, paint and do woodworking that may be more valuable than someone that can only do woodworking.  If you can produce something fast you may be more valuable (this applies more to hourly workers than salary, but counts in both).  If you have not offered more value than you did in the previous year your raise may match that year’s inflation rate.  In 2009 there was no inflation.  According to the BLS it was negative .4% for 2009.  In 2010, it has been 1.1%.

Pay may also vary depending on what other benefits we are offering individuals.  We offer a variety of training.  If we are sending someone through extensive and costly training that may affect their pay for that particular period.  If we have to train someone extensively that may affect their pay level.  The pay strategy includes all benefits (health insurance, 401k, life insurance, etc.).

The work that we do is very unique and very competitive.  We compete with companies across the U.S.  Our competition often bids lower.  We assume part of their ability to do this is based on their pay strategy.  If you have to pay workers less in Atlanta for the same work we produce in IL that can make it difficult for us to compete.  We consider the unique work we do as a competitive advantage.  How many people can work at a place in which one day you learn about dinosaurs and the next the civil war?  It’s a very creative environment which also makes it appealing to come to work every day.  This advantage may mean we pay slightly less than the contractor down the street.

Do you have a pay strategy?

Betty’s cousin, Joe, sent an email yesterday describing his girlfriend’s remarkable experience running in the The Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Run.  This is Wendy’s story:

Just thought I’d let everyone know that Wendy finished the 100-mile Bighorn Trail Run this weekend.  She finished in 33 hours and 53 minutes (7 minutes before the cutoff time!!).  The race started at 11:00 am on Friday and she finished at 8:53 pm on Saturday.  She placed 95 out of 157 starters - she was the last one to finish (62 people dropped out during the race).  It was truly amazing watching her come up with the determination and ability to finish on time.  After running for 92.5 miles she came through an aid station and they told her “there’s no way she can finish on time.”  This really hit hard.  Erika Holland (who ran with Wendy for the last 52 miles - no small feat in itself) ran up ahead of Wendy to the last check point and told them that Wendy was coming and to let her try to finish on time.  She came into the last check point 20 minutes late (7:50 pm) and feeling MUCH pain.  She only had 1 hour and 10 minutes to somehow complete the last 5.25 miles.  They let her continue, but told her she probably wouldn’t be able to finish before the cutoff time.  Erika Holland, refusing to let her quit and refusing to let her believe that she couldn’t do it, encouraged Wendy to push through it and finish on time.  Wendy somehow dug down deep, got in “the zone,” and just started running as fast as she could.  She ran the last 5.25 miles at a 12 minute per mile pace (5 mph).  Pretty amazing considering she just ran 95 miles continuously for the last 33 hours, she was out of energy, her I.T. band was shot, and her muscles were ready to quit.  It was like a scene out of a movie - seeing her run that fast and finish that strong when she had nothing left in the tank.  She finished with 7 minutes to spare and a huge smile on her face!

On top of this all - you need to see this course to realize how incredibly tough it is.  The starting elevation is 4200′ and the highest point is 9100′ with grueling steep climbs, muddy and rutted single tracks, long hard descents, and cold weather while running over-night.  Here’s a brief description of the run:

“The Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Run is an arduous trail run that will take place in the Little Bighorn - Tongue River areas of the Bighorn National Forest. Starting time for the event will be 11 AM, Friday June 18, 2010, with a 34 hour (average pace of 2.94 mph) time limit to finish the event. Runners must be prepared for potential extreme temperature variation and weather conditions during the event with possible temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the day in the canyons and being well below freezing at night in the mountains. The course is wild and scenic traversing territory inhabited by elk, deer, moose, bears, cougars, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes with the potential for wildlife encounters with runners. Crew access points on parts of the course are limited and the runner should be prepared to participate with a fanny pack and other necessary equipment to ensure their ability to safely traverse difficult remote mountainous trails in potentially unpredictable weather conditions. The course is an out-and-back consisting of 76 miles of single track trail, 16 miles of rugged double track jeep trail, and 8 miles of gravel road with approximately 17,500 feet of climb and 18,000 feet of descent.”

What Joe failed to mention in his story is that he also ran the last 25 miles with Wendy and he hadn’t done any training.  What an amazing accomplishment for both of them!

Have you ever refused to give up on something even though you were told it couldn’t be done?  What was the outcome?

Betty with little sister and a friend on Buck

Growing up on a farm is a rare these days.  I feel fortunate to have had the rare opportunity to be raised on a farm.  Here are a few things it taught me.

Problem Solving - When I was about 15, I drove a tractor to a field an hour away from our home.  The tractor overheated.  I had watched my brother and father fix it before and used my water to fix it.  When you are out working on your own you learn to solve problems.

Perseverance - When you have livestock, you have to feed them everyday no matter how cold or hot it is outside.  I would climb the silo and scoop silage down onto an elevator and into a pickup truck in the winter.  Then I would have to empty the truck into the feed troughs.  It could be well below freezing out and you would sweat in the silo.

Responsibility - Having a variety of pets teaches responsibility.  I had horses, bunnies and a variety of animals that were my responsibility on the farm.

Humility - We had cattle.  Cleanliness is not top of mind with them.  They can stick their tongue all the way up their nose.  I think dealing with dirt and grossness can be a humbling experience.

Hard Work - There is endless work on the farm.

Cool and Calm Under Pressure - When you have lots of animals you have accidents, births, deaths and illnesses.  As a kid, I pulled calves out of cows, took care of hurt animals until a vet could get there, and rushed people to the hospital after farm accidents.

Betty with one of the cows

High Pain Tolerance - On the farm you often get cut, bumped, scraped and bruised.  It’s not that big of a deal.

Reliability - I got a job cleaning stalls at a nearby stable when I was fourteen.  The owner often traveled and counted on me to take care of her horses.  Once she was out of town during a huge snow storm that blocked all the roads.  The horses needed water and feed.  My father and I drove a tractor the ten miles to get to the horses.

Personal Finance - I think farm kids often start earning money at a young age.  They might sell their 4-H steer, sweet corn, furs that were trapped, etc.  My parents also taught us how to save, not to buy more than you earned and how to manage a checkbook.  At my horse stable job, I was paid by the stall.  I had to invoice my boss every two weeks.

Growing up on a farm also gave me a love of nature and animals, an independent nature (self reliance), a sense of humor (we did laugh a lot), a strong body and an entrepreneurial bent.  I wish more people grew up on livestock farms.  We would recruit them.